Football helmet



,BY @mi Mk ATTORNEYS R. T. MULLINS FOOTBALL HELMET Flled March 9, 1927 wl-- l u Jan. l5, 1929.

Il O

Patented Jan. 15, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

ROBERT T. MULLINS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO A.V G. SPALDING & BROS., OF NET/V YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION QF NEW JERSEY.

FOOTBALL HELMET.

Application filed March 9,

The present invention relates to helmets, particularly those adapted for use in playing it'ootball, and has for an object the provision ot' a helmet, the dome of which is constructed in such a manner that it will protect the head oi'i' the player against shocks resulting,` from excessive blows.

ln the manufacture of existing forms or helmets the crown portion has been formed ot a plurality of segments ot leather secured in a manner requiring a great amount of time and labor. Jlitter the pieces have been cut in the desired rough shape, adjacent pieces are laid with the outer sides together and stitched along the one side. The rough crown portion is then soaked in water for twenty-*tour hours or more until it has softened suiiiciently. The segments are then opened out and placed with the iesh side or" the leather against a suitable forni. In opening` out the segments in this manner, the adjacent pieces will be turned away from each other as are adjacent leaves of a book when opened, and it is necessary that the leather be soft in order that the stitches will not be broken. After placing the piece upon the form it is hammered with a mallet alongthe seams to make a smooth and flat butt joint. In this process, a severe strain is placed upon the seams and, even with the exercise of great care, it is extremely diicult to prevent the breaking ot the stitches in many instances. In order to give added strength to this joint and impart greater rigidity to the crown, a strip is sewed over the joint and along)i the seam.

Scams oit the above character are highly flexible and even with the addition or the protective strip, the crown portion is insufficiently rigid to protect the wearer-s head against the blows received during play.

jin object et the present invention is to provide a helmet constructed along ditlferent lines wherein leather o't a sufficiently rigid character is used and formed into a helmet. An object ot this invention is to provide a helmet ot the above character to protect the head ifi-oni the most severe blows received thereby while having in mind that it must not present an outer surface ot too hard a nature so that injury to other players might result.

The particular construction of the crown whereby non-yielding` qualities are imparted thereto includes the assemblying of non- 1927. Serial No. 1'F3,8G5.

yielding front, rear and side sections and sewing' them together by means of lap seams whereby a much greater strength is imparted to the crown than would be had with other iorms ot scams. In the iinal forming and shapingl ot the helmet, this construction results as a stronger and more rigid construction. In this manner the hardness is imparted to the crown and the desirable features noted above are accomplished.

Restating the object ot the present invention, it may be seid to provide a helmet made oi two or more crown sections of relatively non-yieldingcharacter which are assembled in a manner to impart to the entire crown a uniform strength at all points, and in this manner cause the shape and non-yielding character ot the crown portion to be preserved indclinitely.

ln order to sel'y forth the invention more clearly, rei ce will now be had to the acco-nipanyin; drawings formino' a part hereoi", wherein Figure l is a. perspective view of the helmet looking from the front and showing` the crown construction above referred to.

Figure 2 is a section taken on line of Figure l and looking` in the direction of the arrows.

llligure 3 shoi a liront elevatior of the helmet with portions thereof broken away.

flu the d ia\\in',s.` a represents the crown piece olr a heluxcl ot the proposed design havingg side d ear extensions This lower pori ion oi" the helmet may be nia-de in accordance with well known przictiw and its specilie torna plrfs no part in the presmit invention. lflre crown piece fr may be secured to the lower portion by s--ztraps c, or other suil able inc-ans which will permit of some relative ino-vement between the two, and is composed of sidor sections u. and end sections n?. These sections are 'formed ot stillJ an d relatively nonyielding' leather and are sewed together by lap seams rZ. The edges o'l the sections to be stitched together are preferably slrivcd, as shown in Fig'. so as vto render the top o'l 'the helmet as even as possible. Ol'iviously. the seams may be riveted, glued, or secured in any desired manner and it will be seen that the resulting article consists of a crown portion, the shape of which will be preserved indefinitely by reason of its uniform strength at all points, since the places at which old structures were weakened are made equally as strong it not stronger, than the rest of the crown portion. lt is essential to the rigid construction and utility of the crown section that these seams 'be lapped and7 accordingly, this terms an important part of the helmet.

At the apex of the crown a top piece c applied to linish oit the converging 'points oit' the sections a and a2.

0n tte underside of the crown piece, strips ot 'fabric are sewed to the lower portion Z) at spaced points around the interior circunr lerence thereof. rthese straps intersect beneath the apex of the crown and are eewed together in the usual manner. .is desirahle j the atrapa he served to the. lov-Jer portion together with the .atrapa c so tha thies may he done in one operation.

The old methods et manufacturing helmets required 'that the leather be capable of inanipulation and thus restricted the finished article to a relatively iiexihle helmet. The helmet described herein is of an extremely nonhyielding character, although constructed so that the portions thereof which come in Contact with other players will not injure them.

vWhat l claim is In a Jfootball helmet, a. relatively nonyielding,- crown 'portion formed of an outer material of a plurality otsections of relatively stili material having skived edges joinedtogether by means of lap seams, Wherehy the outside ot the crown may present a continuous smooth surface and whereby the use oi' outside reinforcing strips is eliminated, padding within Athe crown portion, a separate relatively flexible lower portion, the outer surface of which is in the same general plane with that ot the crown portion, padding Within thelower portion, and means hetvfeen the outer material andthe padding of the crown and -lower portions; and forming the. sole connecting means therebetween to connect the crown portion and the lower portion, said means permittinga degree of relative movement het-Ween the two.

This specification signed this 5th day of March A. l). 1927.

ROBERT T. MULLINS, 

